Ask Suzanne Palmieri discussion

Many people have asked about my personal life. How do I balance teaching, mothering, being a wife, and being an author.... I will answer those questions here. Also, what people MAY not know is that I spent some time as an unwed, young mother on welfare (social entitlement programs). I hadn't finished school and I was struggling. I am very open about that time in my life, so if you are interested, go ahead. Ask away! (I don't discuss religion, politics, or... you know all that.)

Oh! I just saw this topic. How had I missed it before?

Alright, I have a question(s). So you've got four books in some form of "in the works", right? Two are about to hit the shelves and you have a contract for two more, essentially, yes? So that means there are four consecutive projects you've got going on. And you still work a daytime job, right?

So when do you write? I mean, how do YOU carve out the time to devote your thoughts and efforts to your books? What happens when you get home and you're too tired and everyone is needing something from you and by the time everything is quiet again, it's 1:00 am? (I'm assuming everyone's home life is like that, based solely on my home life and I don't even have kids!)
And part B of this totally rambling question: Do you finish one project before you start on the next or do you juggle them all at the same time? Were you writing both The Witch of Little Italy and I'll Be Seeing You simultaneously? Did you have to devote Monday-Wednesday on one title then Thursday-Saturday on the other? HOW do you DO IT?
Are you a superhero who simply has amazing abilities the rest of us can only dream of?

OH! You.... Nope. No superhero. And YES to all of the things you listed above. Two books coming out back to back and another two next year. (Not to mention the one I'm writing NOW that isn't even contracted)
The answer is... I don't know. BUT I can give you a peek at what the last MONTH of my life was like. That might help. I work as a teacher. 8:30-3:30 m-f. I work at a university on Mondays from 6-10pm and on Thursdays from 6-10pm teaching classes. I have three daughters. 6, 10, and 19. The oldest is in college, but somehow she needs me more. I have no IDEA WHY.
I get up at 5am. I make coffee, walk the dog, do yoga, make coffee and put on NPR. Then I wake my little girls. I love the morning, it belongs to them. When I get to work, I am able to do a lot of things. My lessons are done in the summer, and I follow them, so I have to be organized. If they are writing essays or testing or there is a movie? I'm writing. On days when I get home at 3:50 or so, I make dinner, and then? Write at the counter while I cook. After I put the kids to bed, I write. On the days when I am working late? I don't go home in between. I write. On the weekends? I write. On vacations? I write. There is no rhyme or reason or plan. No schedule. I just do it. And sometimes? An idea so good comes to me, and I crawl over and under whatever is in my way... so I can grab a pen. There are novels on napkins, stories on styrofoam cups. Notes on my phone. Voice memos too.

But you forgot something! I read. I read and read and read. So, who the heck knows? Maybe my world spins on a slower axis? Hmmmm.... no you have ME wondering! XOXOXOXO

So, if I do the math, and I warn you now that I am terrible at math...by adding up all the things you do, the time it takes in general, and then dividing by 7 days for a week...it looks like you have 27 hours in your days.
I suspect you used magic. Heh heh heh <--that's a chuckle.

IT IS TOTALLY MAGIC. I adore you.

Suzanne wrote: "There are novels on napkins, stories on styrofoam cups. "

THAT. I love that. I can relate to that. It fills me with joy to know that you do that, too. Love this.